Greg Cronin (born June 2, 1963) is an American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

coach and current head coach of the

Colorado Eagles The Colorado Eagles are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League. The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hoc ...

of the AHL. Prior to joining the Eagles in 2018, Cronin held coaching positions with the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

and

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, the

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders (previously known as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL). They are the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the f ...

of the AHL, and

Colorado College Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...

, the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

, and

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

of the NCAA.

Coaching career

Cronin began his career as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Colby College in 1987–88 and then became a graduate assistant at the

from 1988 to 1990, then as an assistant for

from 1990 to 1993. He returned to Maine to be an assistant coach from 1993 to 1995 and was named interim head coach following a scandal that banished head coach

Shawn Walsh William Shawn Walsh (June 21, 1955 – September 26, 2001) was the head ice hockey coach for the University of Maine Black Bears. Career Walsh was a third-string goalie for Bowling Green State University. As a sophomore, he decided to concentrate ...

from the bench for one year in 1995–96, leading the Black Bears to the

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

championship game in 1996 where they lost to

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

, 3–2. After four years with Maine, he spent one year as the head coach of the USNTDP Juniors of USA Hockey before joining the

in 1998. Cronin served as an assistant coach with the Islanders for 5 seasons before being named their Director of Player Development and head coach of their minor league affiliate, the

, in 2003. He coached the Sound Tigers for 2 seasons with great success, going 78–61–16–5. In 2005, Cronin replaced

Bruce Crowder Bruce James Crowder (born March 25, 1957) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played four seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins from 1981–82 to 1984–85. He is the bro ...

as head coach of the

Northeastern Huskies The Northeastern Huskies are the athletic teams representing Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. They compete in thirteen varsity team sports: men's and women's hockey (in Hockey East); men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, ...

of the NCAA. Cronin inherited a team that graduated almost all of their key players from a 15–18–5 team and had little hope of competing in the short term. The team went 3–24–7 in 2005–06 before posting a 13–18–5 record the following year behind the development of many of Cronin's recruits. The team further improved to 16–18–3 in 2007–08, winning their first playoff game in years in the 2–1 series loss to the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

. The Huskies opened the 2008–09 season expected to contend for home ice advantage in Hockey East (4th place or better) for the first time since 1997–98. The Huskies went 23–9–4 in the regular season, leading the conference until the final day when they lost at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

4–1, falling to second place in Hockey East in the process. Season highlights included Northeastern's first sweep of Maine in 25 years, a win over Boston College in the Beanpot for the first time since 1994, and winning 2 of 3 games against both of the previous season's Hockey East Finalists, Vermont and Boston College. The Huskies opened the postseason by defeating the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

in the Hockey East Quarterfinals at Matthews Arena, 2 games to 1, with the 3rd game being won in overtime on a goal by freshman Alex Tuckerman. On February 18, 2011, Cronin was suspended for six games due to possible recruitment violations, but was reinstated prior to Northeastern's quarterfinal playoff series with

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. Northeastern would win that series, capturing two of three games at

Agganis Arena Agganis Arena is a 7,200-seat multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, on the campus of Boston University, built on the location of the former Commonwealth Armory. It is home to the five-time national champion Boston Universi ...

and make it to the Hockey East semifinals for the second time in three years, where they fell to Boston College. After six seasons as head coach of the Huskies, Cronin returned to USA hockey before joining the

as an assistant coach in 2011. He remained with the Maple Leafs until rejoining the

in 2014. After three years as an assistant coach and one year as an associate coach, Cronin left the Islanders to become head coach of the

in 2018.

Personal

Cronin lives in Boston, and he has many family connections at Northeastern. His father, Don, and his uncle, Jerry, both played hockey for the Huskies in the 1950s and 1960s, and his cousin Kerry played for the women's teams from 1983–86, winning three Beanpots. Greg Cronin spent three years playing hockey for Colby College with his older brother Donny Cronin Jr.

Head coaching record

† Cronin served as the head coach for Maine during the year-long suspension of

starting on December 23, 1995

References

External links

*
Coaching record, uscho.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, Greg 1963 births Living people American ice hockey coaches Colby College alumni Colby Mules men's ice hockey coaches Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey coaches Maine Black Bears men's ice hockey coaches New York Islanders coaches Northeastern Huskies men's ice hockey coaches Toronto Maple Leafs coaches